Westminster College Professor Presents Mathematics Special Education Research in Poland

Share on:

Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Dr. Sararose Lynch, Westminster College professor of education, was honored for her research expertise at the International Association of Special Education (IASE) Conference in Wroclaw, Poland.

Lynch and her husband and colleague Dr. Jeremy Lynch investigated the use of the I-THINK problem solving framework with elementary-aged students in inclusive classrooms, including those identified with specific learning disabilities. Dr. Jeremy Lynch works in the department of special education at Slippery Rock University.

The study compared elementary-aged students’ use of two different problem solving frameworks including Think-Pair-Share (TPS) and I-THINK. Think-Pair-Share is a classroom collaboration model in which students work together to answer a question about a reading assignment. This model requires students to think individually and then share their ideas with peers. I-THINK is a classroom teaching model that promotes mathematical communication in elementary, middle, and high school mathematics classrooms during problem-solving activities.

Lynch’s research results suggest that by engaging students with the metacognitive-based I-THINK framework, they are able to make greater gains with their problem solving skills.

Lynch presented her information again this semester at the Psychology of Mathematics Education-North America (PME-NA) at Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan.

In April 2016, Dr. Lynch and her husband will also present their most current work on I-THINK at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference in Washington, D.C. Lynch will further investigate students’ use of this framework with two Westminster College undergraduate students in a local school district during the upcoming spring semester.